Today's Highlights
are news stories featured in the last two days on NDS News. They
reflect the Christmas season. If a story interests you, click on
the associated link to read the whole story. To join the News
list, please access the link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NDSN/

Turn to
the Scriptures to celebrate Christmas. For many people,
the Christmas season is filled with anything but peace. Too much
rushing around. Too much traffic. Too many activities, crowded
stores and long lines. Too much stress. Not enough spiritual
reflection and drawing closer to God. If your disillusionment
with Christmas has been growing, one way to resurrect the holiday
spirit is to practice the time-honored observance of 12 days of
Christmas. http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=17339

Sociopolitical aspect of historical
Christmas. That Jesus decided to choose the ancient
tradition of prophetic asceticism represented by John the Baptist
proved his form of liberative commitment to the oppressed,
sinners and the poor. He had been identifying himself with the
religious poor of the countryside who came to be baptized by John
the Baptist. The sociopolitical implication of this consideration
makes us realize that the main meaning of Christmas is not the
celebration but the action. Indeed, liturgically, Christians have
to celebrate Christmas. But the most important thing is
"Christmas action." http://tinyurl.com/2hm4j

Interview:
Music for divinity. Pastor Edward Baroi of Calvary
Charismatic Church talks about church music to Fayza Haq of The
Daily Star
The Daily Star: What is the origin of Church music?
Pastor Edward Baroi: Music has always played an important role in
the worship of God. Way back, in the dawn of creation: "...
the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted
for joy" (Job 38:7, Bible). http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/12/25/d31225140195.htm

Customers pay by conscience. A
simple brown basket near the water jug serves as the cash
collection point. It's been sitting there since last spring, and
her cafe still has no name on the window, nor does she do any
kind of advertising. -more-

Our sense of wonder. Francis Church, a
middle-aged newspaper editor, told 8-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon
in 1897 that her friends who doubted the existence of Santa Claus
"have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical
age." Our age is certainly no less skeptical, but we still
find ways to connect with something above or outside our
quotidian lives. Such as . . . http://tinyurl.com/2sk77

"Christmas is just a commercial
event for the Chinese government," said Hua Huiqi,
a Beijing-based Christian activist.

"They export hundreds of millions of US dollars in Christmas
products overseas, but the government doesn't want Christianity
to spread freely."

In the past year, the government has launched what some critics
consider one of the harshest crackdowns against Christians in
"underground churches" -- which insist on operating
independenly from the government.

Film review. 21 Grams. "I believe in
interior journeys, and that's why I love the characters'
journey" in "21 Grams," Inarritu said.
"That's why this film is about finding hope (when)
confronting such extraordinary losses. "Want it or not, life
is a string of losses. We lost, everyday, something. We lost
childhood, innocence, our hair, our faith, our beliefs, our
health and, at the end, our life. And how we deal with that
everyday, and how we can make meaning or give meaning or sense to
our lives through hope, I'm a true believer in that." http://www.jsonline.com/onwisconsin/movies/dec03/194596.asp

Sir John Templeton. In October, 1992, the
Templeton funds were acquired by the Franklyn Group for $440
million. Sir John now dedicates his time to trying to change
attitudes toward discoveries. He was amazed that "no
religion has been enthusiastic about new discoveries... they all
look back at ancient scriptures and prophets." This led Sir
John to set up three foundations worldwide to facilitate
scientists in making discoveries of a spiritual nature. For Sir
John, there are no major regrets in his career, other than that
"no one" has found ways to increase spiritual
information. He wished he had started back in his garden at age
six, instead of growing vegetables, to discover why he was
created, why he was human. "Nobody ever explained it to
me," he said. "I used to look up at the stars and
wondered why they existed." http://www.thenassauguardian.com/business/333392893333038.php